HRD looking into IIM indore after-school PG course plan

An Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore move to admit schoolgraduates straight into an intensive five-year management programme has triggered concerns at the human resource development ministry about the implications of the plan for students.

An Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore move to admit schoolgraduates straight into an intensive five-year management programme has triggered concerns at the human resource development ministry about the implications of the plan for students.

HRD ministry officials are examining both the legality and the implications of the straight-out-of-school postgraduate programme because the IIM will be unable to award a degree at any stage of the course, government sources told HT.

The IIMs are autonomous institutions and do not need the HRD ministry’s approval to start a programme. The HRD ministry under Kapil Sibal is keen not to intervene in academic decisions taken by the IIMs.

But officials are concerned that the IIM brand may draw students and parents to the five-year integrated post-graduate programme in management (IPGPM) without understanding potential implications. The ministry may seek clarifications from the IIM.

Students who complete the IPGP will receive a diploma at par with the current IIM postgraduate diplomas — and may land lucrative careers like their counterparts who join the postgraduate programme at present. But they will not hold any undergraduate degree — required for civil services applications and for admission to many top foreign universities.

What the government is really concerned about is an option left for students by the IIM under which they can leave the programme after three years.

Contrary to what the IIM Indore claims on its website, the B-school cannot award an undergraduate degree equivalent to a BBA after the completion of three years of the IPGP because the IIMs are not empowered to award degrees. These students will under present rules not even be able to appear for the CAT conducted by the IIMs themselves.

Implications

Students who complete the IPGP will receive a diploma at par with the current IIM postgraduate diplomas, but will not hold any undergraduate degree required for civil services applications and for admission to many top foreign universities.

Govt is concerned the IIM brand may draw students and parents to the five-year integrated post-graduate programme in management without understanding potential implications.